Ballard is an up and coming neighborhood in the nor thwest corner of Seattle. Home to tr endy r estaurants and indie shops, the neighborhood is a popular tour ist destination. In addition to the superb food and

shopping exper iences, Ballard also has one of the largest f ishing and boating industr ies which makes the Ballard Locks a popular location for a nice afternoon picnic. For outdoor enthusiast, the Golden Gardens Park offer s sandy beaches for sunbathers and vol leyball players al ike. I f the weather is rough, the Nordic Her i tage Museum offer s protection from the r ain whi le shar ing the r ich Scandinavian background of Ballard.

November 15, 2018

As many know , the Ballard-Seattle area has an extr emely high cost of l iving. With a r elatively low diver si ty compared to other competi tive areas, many minor i ties and underpr ivi leged groups feel l ike i t is di f f icult to succeed in such an environment. Some of the biggest employers in the United States (Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, etc.) are housed in Seattle. Despite so many jobs being offered in these companies, the population in pover ty and homelessness continues to r ise, creating a ver y daunting wage gap. The high cost of l iving and large wage gap for ce many str essors on r esidents and reinfor ces a less than adequate quali ty of l i fe for many groups of people.

"...a hip wat er f r ont neighbor hood wit h

t r endy r estaur ant s, indie

shops, bar s and cr af t br ewer ies."

Bal lardA TRIP WORTH MAKING

POPULATION HEALTH

VISIT US!

Ballard?s histor ical ly prosperous business industr y previously granted the neighborhood ci ty status. Because of the communities pr ime location for timber mi l ls, Captain Ballard convinced Mr. Stimson to bui ld Stimson?s Mi l l on Salmon Bay. Soon after , The Seattle Cedar Company fol lowed sui t. Ballard's production of lumber and shingles quickly multipl ied, so much so that Ballards 10 shingle mi l ls were producing more r ed cedar shingles than any other community nationw ide. As a r esult, Ballard quickly established i tself as the ?Shingle Capital of Amer ica.? In addition to the thr iving shingles industr y, Ballards f ishing and boating business also expanded. The development of the Ballard Locks, the Ship Canal project, and the Fisherman's Terminal helped create one of the largest f ishing f leets on the West Coast. Fur thermore, a bustl ing commercial distr ict developed along Ballard Avenue which is sti l l intact today. Due to Ballard's prosper i ty in business, Ballard was incorporated into a ci ty. However , l ike many other small ci ties, Ballard quickly outgrew i ts r esources. As a r esult, r esidents voted to be annexed to Seattle and Ballard lost i ts ci ty status.

A major hook of Ballard?s business industr y are the beer pubs that l ine i ts str eets. With 11 brewer ies in only 5 square mi les, Ballard has become the spot for a bar craw l. The ci ty offer s several brewer y tour s and is a major tour ist attr action. The oldest brewer y in the Ballard Brewer y Distr ict is Mar i time Paci f ic Brew ing and was bui l t in 1990 by George and Jane Hancock. Back in 1982, Redhook was the f i r st brewer y established in Ballard, however , i t

has r elocated. An activi ty unique to Ballard is know n as the Cycle Saloon, a passenger -pedal-powered vehicle in which people can si t and pedal their way through the brewer ies of Ballard al l whi le si tting and chatting w ith their fr iends! The activi ty is r ecommended for bachelor /bachelorette par ties, fun team bui lding events, or just a Saturday. With so many brewer ies in such a small area, i t?s no surpr ise that this is a major source of r evenue for the Ballard distr ict.

The economy in Ballard is centered around the Farmer 's Market. With thousands of people visi ting and vending ever y Sunday, the Farmer?s Market is the talk of the tow n. The enti r e tow n gathers to ei ther spend

money suppor ting their fel low neighbors or sel l ing

var ious goods to one another. The small market cir culates over 75,000

dollar s on an average Sunday. This high r ate of monetar y cir culation stimulates their economy and produces tons of tax dollar s that go back into fur ther developing Ballard. The Farmer?s Market in Ballard ser ves as the backbone for the ci ty of Ballard.

"THe far mer s mar ket is a

r ef r eshingly l ive and happy communit y"

- Khair a

Business and indust r y

Economy

The neighborhood of Ballard, located in the nor thwest corner of Seattle provides a unique her i tage based on i ts Scandinavian roots. Although the land was or iginal ly inhabited by Native Amer icans, Ir a Utter and Osbourne Hall f i led a homestead claim in 1852. Around 20 years later , Ballard obser ved i ts f i r st wave of development when the land was sold and divided, the r esulting neighborhood was granted the name ?Farmdale Homestead.? Later Wil l iam Rankin Ballard, or Captain Ballard, obtained about 160 acres of land from a lost coin toss. Although the land was thought to be wor thless, his losing bet began to yield a f ine prof i t. In 1890, when the ci ty was incorporated, i t was granted the name Ballard for Captain Ballard.

Ballard quickly established i tself through the expansion of r ai lroad and str eetcar ser vices. I t even developed tour ist and homeow ner attr actions such as pr ivate fer r ies to nearby tow ns and an amusement park for enter tainment. Meanwhi le, a mass migration from Scandinavian countr ies to the uni ted states was beginning. The abundance of jobs in Puget Sound and f isher y mi l ls attr acted the Scandinavian foreigners to settle in Ballard. Although the population of Scandinavians in Ballard never r eached major i ty, the immigrants spread their r ich ethnic identi ty throughout the enti r e community.

WEATHERBallard is above of Seattle and to the West on the coast of Shi lshole Bay. Due to i ts location near the water , i t can get w indy at times. Not too long ago, a r are cloud formation formed called a funnel cloud. This r are formation occurs only 3 times a year in the United States and is a product of high w inds which produce a tornado that does not r each the ground. Al l in al l , Ballard's geography creates unique weather conditions r anging from rain to sun and w indy to sti l l .

Hist or y

Since it was a nice day, it seemed as t hough many

peopl e f ound t hemselves on a bike. I am not t oo

conf ident t hat is always t he case. - Shal on

Ballard, l ike Seattle, is compr ised of mainly Caucasians, as you may be able to see from the char t on the r ight. Relative population of minor i ties in compar ison to Seattle, however , is much lower in Ballard. According to US Census Bureau Data from 2016, there are 17.3% more whites in Ballard than in Seattle and 7.3% less Asians. Al l other minor i ties are also less in Ballard than Seattle. In terms of gender , the county is pretty evenly spl i t w i th about 50% males and 50% females. The median age of Ballard r ests at an unsurpr ising 35, These statistics are al l fair ly val id. The median household income in Ballard is about 78,000. This number is about 11,000 dollar s higher than the average household income in the United States. This fact, however , is not surpr ising as the Seattle area houses some of the largest employers in the United States and, as a r esult, has an extr emely high cost of l iving. Conversely, Ballard also houses a signi f icant homeless population, and the high cost of l iving for ces

more and more people into this si tuation year ly. The state of Washington is insti tuting many policies in attempt to decrease this population but homelessness and pover ty in the state persists and increases year after year. The environment is competi tive and may lead to a high str ess environment, decreasing overal l population health in Ballard and Seattle.

DEMOGRAPHICS

AUTHORS' NOTES

Khaira: "I found that the neighborhood was extr emely fami ly fr iendly whi le also having an exci ting night l i fe for young adults. Although the combination was surpr ising, i t showed the diver si ty of l i festyles that I obser ved through my background research."Shalon: "What surpr ised me the most was the abundance of fami l ies that were exper iencing the ci ty. I had expected to see younger people that worked in industr y in Seattle and wanted to have a cheaper place to l ive than inside the ci ty."Jagathesan: "The ethnici ties we saw in the farmers market ver y much matched the information I r ead online. What surpr ised me, however , was also the coexisting large homeless population. I never expected to see two starkly di f ferent groups in the same community."Victor s: "I was happy to see al l the famil ies and dogs at the farmers market. As expected, the population was major i ty white and we saw an abundance of coffee shops and small coffee stands"

Aust in Vict or s

Neha Jagat hesan

l iam shal on

aanya khair a

Class of 2022

Class of 2022

Class of 2022

Class of 2022

WORKS CITED?Ballard Sunday Farmers Market.? My Ballard, 14 Aug. 2010,

w w w.myballard.com/ballard-sunday-farmers-market/.Jones, Kendall . ?Local Brewer y Distr icts: Ballard.? Seattle Magazine, 15 Aug. 2016,

w w w.seattlemag.com/ar ticle/local-brewer y-distr icts-ballard.?Mapping Histor ic Ballard Over view ? Ballard Histor ical Society.?

Ballard Histor ical Society, bal lardhistor y.org/mapping-ballard-new /ballard-over view /.

?Race and Ethnici ty in Ballard, Seattle, Washington (Neighborhood).? The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas, Statistical Atlas, statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Washington/Seattle/Ballard/ Race-and-Ethnici ty.

?Visi t the Ballard Farmers Market.? SFMA, w w w.sfmamarkets.com/visi t-bal lard-farmers-market.

Walt Crow ley. ?Histor yLink.org.? Prohibi tion in Washington State, 31 Mar. 1999, w w w.histor yl ink.org/Fi le/983.